Sally McNeil

Sally McNeil (born May 29, 1960) is an American former professional bodybuilder, who was convicted for the murder of her husband and Mr. Olympia competitor, Ray McNeil.

Early life

Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Sally had what she describes as a tough upbringing, experiencing violence so frequently that she had thought it to be commonplace in every home. Sally's father, Richard Dale Dempsey, was a raging alcoholic who was frequently abusive to her mother.

Sally became an athlete in high school. She swam, dove, and ran. She enrolled at East Stroudsburg State College (now East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania) with a dream of becoming a gym teacher. Three and a half years in, with just one semester left, she ran out of money to fund her education and dropped out.

Sally was married to her first husband, Anthony Lowden, for four years and they had two children together, Shantina and John, before separating.

Military service

McNeil served in the United States Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, reaching the rank of Sergeant. She won the U.S. Armed Services Physique Championship twice in the late 1980s.

In 1990, Sally was demoted from her position as a sergeant for her continuously poor behavioral record, including anger issues, violence, and lashing out at others. Her behavioral record also meant that she couldn't re-enlist in the Armed Forces after serving her time. It was ultimately this chain of events that led to Sally's being discharged from the military.

Ray McNeil and their marriage

Like her brother and her uncle before her, Sally joined the Marine Corps. She started bodybuilding during her service. It was there that a friend introduced her to Ray McNeil, another competitive bodybuilder, in June 1987.

They dated for about two months before getting married. Three days later, Ray began abusing both Sally and her two children, which, for Sally, involved being choked and punched by Ray. The family settled in Oceanside, California.

When she was discharged from the military, Sally began a career wrestling men on video for $300 an hour, earning her the moniker 'Killer Sally.' She made enough money to enable Ray to leave the Marines and concentrate on his own bodybuilding career. Ray started using anabolic steroids, which Sally blamed for his violent behavior.

During this time, Ray competed in the 1993 Mr. Olympia competition, placing 15th. He had also done professional wrestling, took up acting classes and done stand-up comedy, performing his material in free comedy shows at The Comedy Club in La Jolla, San Diego.

Violent behaviour

Sally had a record of being violent as well, even being arrested previously for assaulting a mailman. Sally attacked one of Ray’s lovers at a bodybuilding show; pinning her to the floor and hitting her repeatedly. This resulted in the National Physique Committee suspending Sally for a year. It’s thought she also physically took her anger out on her husband; pulling a gun on him for the first time, before being pepper-sprayed by police officers.

In 1993, Sally was confronted by a club bouncer for dancing on the tables. Drunk and not wanting to do what he told her, Sally kicked him in the face three times. When police arrived, she threatened to kill them.

Murder, trial and conviction

After enduring years of abuse, Sally called 9-1-1 on February 14, 1995; she told them: "I just shot my husband because he just beat me up."

Sally claimed – and maintains – that she shot Ray in self-defense when he, spurred by his "roid rage", began choking her after she accused him of adultery. The police transcript reads that Ray "slapped her, pushed her down on the floor, and started choking her. McNeil squirmed away, ran into the bedroom, and took her sawed-off shotgun out of its case in the closet." Sally then shot Ray twice: once in the abdomen and once in the jaw.

Evidence arose during Sally's trial that questioned the validity of the story she had expressed, including her body language during the initial police interview, the trajectory of the rounds fired into Ray (one of which must have been fired while he was on the floor), and the blood spatter on their living room lamp. In addition, no DNA of Sally’s was found on Ray, which eliminated any forensic evidence to back up her story.

In 1996 she was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 19 years to life.

Imprisonment & appeals

After numerous appeals on a variety of grounds, including improper jury instructions, McNeil's conviction was initially overturned by the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals which resulted in the granting of a writ of habeas corpus. The State of California then appealed to the US Supreme Court which reversed the 9th Circuit's ruling and remanded the case back to that same venue for further action. Relying on information and instructions from the SCOTUS opinion, the 9th Circuit reconsidered the matter and on March 29, 2005, issued their opinion ruling in favor of the State and reinstating McNeil's original conviction.

McNeil served her sentence at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, California.

Release and life after prison

Her parole was granted by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on May 29, 2020.

At 60, Sally married Norfleet Stewart, whom she met through her Veterans Transition Center support group. She currently resides in Northern California and works in a warehouse. She is also in touch with her children.

In media

In October 2022, Netflix released a three-part docuseries, Killer Sally, covering the case and its aftermath. It was directed by Nanette Burstein, whose previous credits include On the Ropes (1999) and Hillary (2020).

External links

• Sally McNeil at IMDb
• Killer Sally on Netflix
• Killer Sally trailer on YouTube
• Interview